Bee disappearance a warning about unhealthy food production practices

It's fitting that Earth Day comes in spring, a season for planting vegetables and enjoying fresh, fragrant blossoms. But as we celebrate nature's annual rebirth, there are growing signs of trouble with the winged workers who not only pollinate flowers, but are essential to our food supply: bees.

One out of every three bites of food you and I eat is from crops pollinated by honeybees. Bees and other pollinators are necessary for about 75 percent of all global food crops. Honeybees also contribute over $15 billion to the U.S. economy. With roughly 80 percent of all flowering plants on Earth reliant on pollinators to reproduce, if we lose bees we will likely lose a host of other important species.

The news has been full of reports about an epidemic of Colony Collapse Disorder, a phenomenon in which bee colonies have been mysteriously collapsing when adult bees seemingly abandon their hives. This winter, U.S. beekeepers reported bee die-offs of 50 to 70 percent - pushing the beekeeping industry to the verge of collapse.

Pests, diseases and changing climate have all been identified as contributing factors. But a growing body of scientific evidence points to a class of neurotoxic pesticides called neonicotinoids or neonics - compounds related to chemicals produced by tobacco plants - as a key factor in colony collapses. In January, the European Food Safety Authority labeled neonics an "unacceptable" danger to bees. And a new report from the American Bird Conservancy a provides compelling evidence that neonics are also harming birds.

Neonics are the fastest-growing class of synthetic pesticides in history, and one called imidacloprid - Bayer CropScience's top-selling product - is the most widely used insecticide in the world. Neonics are used as seed treatments on more than 140 varieties of crops, as well as on termites, cat and dog flea treatments, lawns, landscapes and gardens.

Neonics are persistent and last for years in the soil. They permeate the entire plant and are expressed in pollen, nectar and dew. Because they can't be washed off food, we are all ingesting them daily. Nor is their use limited to commercial crops: Many of the plants and seeds we buy from nurseries have been pre-treated with these pesticides, at doses up to 120 times higher than are used on farms.

In 2003 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency conditionally approved Bayer's neonic clothianidin, based on the company's own studies. Despite mounting evidence, including a memo by the EPA's own scientists discrediting Bayer's original study, and more than a million public comments from Americans urging tighter regulation, the agency has decided to take no action on neonics until 2018. Other nations haven't been so slow to act. Governments in Italy, Germany, France and elsewhere have already taken action to limit neonics, and beekeepers there are reporting recovery.

The European Food Safety Authority's study has prompted the European Parliament to consider a two-year ban on three widely used neonics. After a campaign by Friends of the Earth, major home and garden retailers and grocery stores http://buswk.co/15jCj9Z in the United Kingdom have pledged to stop selling neonics.

Bees are canaries in the coal mine, warning us that the way we produce our food is unhealthy and unsustainable. Instead of more risky chemicals, we need a rapid transition to safe and sustainable agriculture. A new study by the U.S. Department of Agriculture shows that we could move away from chemically intensive industrial agriculture toward a system of ecologically friendly agriculture and still continue to produce enough food for us all. If we don't take action soon, the buzzing of bees won't be the only thing to disappear from our gardens and farms.

Lisa Archer is director of the food and technology program for Friends of the Earth U.S. Follow the organization on Twitter at @foe_us.

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@Penn1699 There is/was a class action lawsuit against them by about a dozen heirloom and organic farms. Monsanto sets up farms near these natural farms, they grow genetically engineered crops and when of all things the bees cross pollinate or corrupt the organic farms the litigate them out of existence for copyright infringement. If anything it is Monsanto that is causing the damage. I would have to be convinced that it does not have anything to do with the bee decline. The genetically engineered or round-up proof crops that is.

@harold_lloyd Actually....world would include America.....Europe......Austri a......."far" east" Asian nations. As for the remaining, their starvation would go even further than it already is.....<the new zombie Apocalypse> ;-)

I grew up on a farm. We grew our food, tobacco, grain, soybeans, etc. People need to realuze that produce (or meat, for that matter) doesn't just majically appear in the grocery. And I've said for years that a large portion of the population would starve to death if required to feed themselves because they don't know how to grow and preserve food, or hunt. Its becoming a lost art and things like this just prove that people need to learn.

The reason it's a lost art is the bulk of our population lives in an urban environment where seeing anything green is remarkable. It takes real ingenuity to farm there, though I'm glad to say vertical gardening against walls and rooftop gardening are taking hold.

Humans hold this remarkable notion that we can outsmart nature, that we can introduce contaminants to the environment without serious side effects. This view fails to appreciate the delicate balance in which ecosystems exist. Neurotoxins work by poisoning the nervous systems of animals. All animals including bees. When a population is thus chemically weakened, they become more vulnerable to other environmental pressures such as climate change.

Yes I do agree with this story 100%. When I was a kid way,way back a looooonnnnnngggggggg time ago, you couldn't step outside barefooted in the grass without the pesty little things stinging the hell out of ya. Now when I cut the grass you never even see one, period. When and if I do see one now, I make damn sure I don't run over it with the lawnmower.

@songbird Man don't you wish that you could just go back for one day? That would be priceless! I wouldn't trade my childhood for nothing,which were the 60s&70s. I feel for anyone that didn't grow up in that era. Other than Viet-Nam it was the best of times.

@Buckfan4life2 You aren't kidding. I spent a lot of time on a farm and loved it! I can remember riding my bicycle and hearing a roar. There was a fruit tree growing beside an old abandoned store. Similar to what you would see on the t.v. show The Waltons. The branches were bending due to the number of honey bees. Plus I could smell the perfume off of the blossoms and because it had also just finished raining I could smell the scent of the hot slat on the slat bank just beyond it. We sometimes went swimming in an old mill pond. There was a small waterfall where the water fell into it. Man I miss that stuff.

I've been reading this about the bees for years but haven't seen it yet. My wife and I maintain a large garden area and the bees are as plentiful as ever. I’ve also read of farmers bringing in bees to pollinate their fields but have yet to run across one who has needed to do so. If indeed it is happening, you couldn't prove it by me.

You can thank Monsanto and Rockefeller for the death of the bees. Neonics came from them. Monsanto planned to kill off bee colonies in order to introduce a “new and improved” species of bee that will only pollinate Monsanto crops. It's all about the money for democrats. Forget about having a vegetable garden in the future.

@Everyman - money for democrats??? Then why does Monsanto donate most of their money to republicans? Biggest recipients of Monsanto PAC money went to Ann Wagner, John Boehner, Eric Cantor, and several other GOP US Reps... plus Mitch McConnell, Roy Blunt, Orrin Hatch and several other GOP US Senators...

Mosanto and Bayer will make their profits while the bees die off. The price of food in the grocery stores will rise. The madhatter tea baggers and the republicans will complain when they should rejoice for having got what they want.

Yeah lets wait until 2018 to do ANYTHING that way everybody makes a buck off of killing us all! Greed, greed, and more greed that's all this country is about. I even read yesturday about a CEO stating water should not accessible to all. Lets all just sit here with our thumbs up our ass and do NOTHING that's what they expect us to do that's what they want us to do. Bitch, whine, and moan on website. Excuse me while I do some letter writing its not much, but atleast its something.